Paradigm Source
by Questioning Law
Summary: Chaos emeralds. Their perceived limit is set to seven. The Master emerald. Same material, but in a larger package. Rings. The absorption rate in humans is infinitesimal. Intangibility. Achieved with an endless supply of the above. The man piloting the mechanized weapon has the same case. His secret? Me.
1. 1: Evacuate from Base

Cover Image By den255 (DeviantArt)

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG © SEGA and Sonic Team

* * *

[_Cargo is pure mad_]

* * *

[. . . .]

**→→→•1•←←←**

Evacuate from Base

He missed.

The act of throwing and aiming demands extensive physical know-how, if asked the subject. The issue did not concern the Egg-pawn on the dim lit floor in shards, stunning the man and the target in question. Neither the fact said target still possessed the emerald, expressing his worry as though it might explode, or worse.

Orbot's position had not changed. His mind grappled to comprehend the situation, replaying the scene locked on an infinite loop.

_Eggman launches Egg-pawn at Cubot _— _Cubot holds emerald away _— _Projectile at one meter from target — Projectile at thirty centimetres from target _—

The error kicks in. Right before impact an altered path presents itself. Not in the sense it curved to avoid the frightened robot, but rather the object disappeared, reappearing in the same instance, hurling past Cubot to the wall. The victim had his optics shut the entire time.

Orbot remained in limbo. His systems tried justifying the event as _Chaos control by Cubot_, or _Dr. Eggman destroyed the laws of physics_. By chance the doctor noticed Orbot's predicament after being bemused himself.

He marched to the robot's defensive form and initiated a manual reset. An extendable bradawl driven into the sphere, slithered through a cuff.

Cubot met a stern look from the doctor, his companion hoisted. The robot scraped behind at non-existent hair, his other hand held the stone.

"Aha... Uh... "

Eggman headed for him, the hardware tool discarded.

"Give me that." He grabbed the item mid-speech.

Cubot readied for the inevitable scolding, which never came. Reflections within the yellow emerald pressed an urgent matter. Bobbing, hexagonal goggles switched back in action to target the source.

Orbot's diagnostics beeped in satisfaction. Its first action called for decompression, pushing the white gloves encapsulating him. They clamped as a reply locking him in the current form. With the same tenacity done earlier Eggman whipped his arms towards the ceiling vent crates. The lines of "Don't let it escape." added to the process.

The robot's spherical body smashed through the flat cover, popping arms away to impede the hovering spy's escape in progress. Gravity took over sending the combatants into free-fall. Another pair of robotic hands caught him and in turn the machine he held. It squirmed everywhere flaying its one movable part.

Retrieving his bradawl throughout the fall the doctor deactivated the entity. The trio were able to analyze their intruder outfitted in its new Swiss cheese camouflage.

A single turbine kept it afloat, an optical eye placed on the blade rim. An appearance of a professional bicycle helmet covered the top. The body represented an elongated octagon with a cylindrical camera mounted underneath.

One dumb-bell shaped component hooked at the rear, the exhaust vent directed above. Along the colour schemes of yellow rotor blades, combined with a blue, white and red body paint, 'G' emblazoned overhead the number zero-one on the helmet.

"Quit gawking at it. We need to move, now."

Before the robotic pair could jolt the little guy aside an arm clasped around them, and they were tossed into the departing vehicle. The Beetle once grounded had its fixed eyepiece record their departure.

They turned, flying amidst scattered pawns. Timing his movements to the keypad on the wall, sliding doors greeted the hover pod upon entering the instant descending elevator.

"How'd they sneak by—never mind. Divert them to the west side of the compound." Eggman spoke through the drive console, gunfire apparent from the other line.

A nod severed the connection, lagging behind a soldier shouting the hedgehog's position.

"We'll make our escape through the breach." Eggman swiped the telephone application to complex outline.

Although it would be beneficial to everyone if someone popped the question on how Cubot survived the prior incident another immediate issue seized Orbot's attention.

He murmured aside, "Didn't you say the lifts weren't working."

The cube raised arms in defense. "A bunch of pawns blocked the way. How could I have checked?"

A ding accompanied sliding doors, the round exit spotted straight ahead. Compared to the rest of the building this floor sustained the brunt of today's attack, a robotic massacre.

Metallic cargo prisms mutilated, workers decapitated, few even hanged by random exposed wires spilling from the walls.

They detoured around loader vehicles fallen sideways with their Egg-pawn drivers expired. Eggman manned plenty of bots given the surprise assault granted his Egg-walker be the singular vehicle defending him. It disintegrated during the earlier rendezvous outside.

Lacking weapons the contraption reclassified to a glorified Segway.

A shouted whisper came from the back seat. "'Lights remain at sixty percent capacity'?"

"You said the elevators ceased functioning. I couldn't access this area."

"Shut it"—he slammed his gloved fist between them—"do you hear anything?"

Moments ago indicated a battle between a weaponized hedgehog and government forces, the lack of noise contradicting previous Intel. Steady propulsion drifted them nearer to the exit creating little noise, if possible.

During the repairs on the Egg-Mobile darkness had settled in the sky, starless as it were. Reaching the black hole called for the centre headlight to activate. The light shined back on itself, the cause of its repulse eying the crew. Agape expressions embraced them when Eggman veered to a full retreat.

Another towering robot climbed through the access point, the first one already firing upon the pod.

Orbot identified the threat. "G.U.N. Hunters."

The passengers peered above the rear-border edge. Airborne units had joined the fray having standard energy rifles mounted to their undersides.

A recognizable sound font came online, the elevator signified occupation.

"Halt, or else we will open fire."

Eggman strained the craft into stopping, crew members blown windward.

A boastful voice greeted the surrounded vehicle. "You again?"

Soldiers outfitted with lacklustre helmets, boots and bulletproof vests had poured from the elevator. Each person carried similar armaments targeted at the group. To the moon's direction acquainted G.U.N. Hunters and Beetles formed a concave barricade.

Their Hunters used the same patterns of the white and blue paint job, applying yellow around the arms. A pulse rifle connected to one forelimb, a claw-like hand on the other. Its venting apparatus bolted on the front chest plate, zero-two inked beside the protrusion.

One domed sensor fastened on top the structure. A rocket pack beamed present, and chunky plates fused between the joints.

"General Towers, is it?" An arm slid playful along the dashboard. His servant bots hid their bodies, heads and hands exposed.

A pair of individuals stood unrivalled in the sea of troopers. Ruffled grey hair and complete heterochromia bestowed the man's facial features. A grey suit, badge of authority, and sophisticated stash completed the attire.

In contrast the other carried his image as short, blue, and having an odd preference for military footwear.

"If you're going to commandeer my base at least have the courtesy for me to vacate the premises."

"Out of the vehicle, Dr. Eggman," the General said.

Machinery on standby hummed in the otherwise silence, charging shots. However, the subjects complied, abandoning the vehicle.

Towers marched to them, his cyan eye divulging everything he needed to know. The eye colour difference due to a genetic defect portrayed a ruse, one of G.U.N.'s own tech.

A pseudo eye.

He saw the vast array of tools tucked throughout the fat body. How the doctor's robots circuited themselves, comparing the design to their own. Even the emerald the hovercraft possessed shined into view.

A hand proceeded to reach into his pocket. "We're going to play a game. I'll ask you questions. You provide their answers.

"If I don't trust the answer, you win a prize." The safety trigger unlatched.

Eggman darted concealed eyes at Sonic, beyond doubt he would not approve of this… he hoped. At a distance the hedgehog appeared taken aback wanting to interject, but declined to jump in the conversation.

"Will I be answering to you or him?"

Towers continued, "Is it possible to create Mobian rings to be used by humans?"

A nod.

The side arm not changing stance elicited further commentary.

"My robots can explain the concept"—he manipulated his leg to knock the cube beside the sphere, dumbfoundedness plastered on their faces—"they'd studied the file."

Despite initial impressions the explanation continued in a professional tone. Orbot the main fountain of information coincided with Cubot, injecting opinion rather than fact into the mix.

During the info dump the doctor strayed leftover cognitions to bewilder at Sonic. The hedgehog paced along the boundary of soldiers. He walked in a straight line, spin-dashed, ran, hopped, a combination of the above. The Commander paused, conversing to the hedgehog once the information started mutating to utter nonsense.

The leaders returned. "When did you gain knowledge about the existence of these Mobian rings?"

Eggman attempted again, "Why won't you ask him?"

"Answer the question."

"But he already knows the answer." Arms directed at the hedgehog for full effect. They fell when the firearm elevated to eye level.

_Vacuous idiot, how would my answer make any_—

The soldiers discharged their weapons, causing Eggman to hit the deck and his bots to revert to defense mode. Hunters and Beetles aided, bombarding past the Egg-mobile. An explosion materialized, and in the same instance, Towers vaulted sideways to avoid the missile.

The blue robot focused on his doppelgänger, who could not be bothered to react fast enough to dodge. Metal claws extended for the sweeping motion through Sonic's frame, bullets and energy projectiles sandwiching the rivals.

* * *

The scout had in view an anthropomorphic android when it peeked round the corner wall. Current objectives outlined base assessment on damages and to seek anything worth salvageable. This new discovery created a preliminary assignment, determine the building's occupancy.

Through the exterior ventilation shaft it flew, achieved with brute force, resulting in the sentinel to investigate the noise.

Advancing onwards the ceiling maze contradicted background information of the layout. Though the branching routes had many inadmissible sectors due to rampant debris external sensors detected light utilities active, and auditory ones, a distant disturbance. The A.I. edged deeper into the network until actual words became recorded.

"—chaos control during the battle. Sonic would be distracted attacking. It then reappears behind him. Boom. Laser to the face."

Stopping above the opening, the protruding camera shifted below.

"Or he would have teleported to the rear of Sonic with the pod alone leaving both contraptions vulnerable. It's nonsensical—"

Its hard drive indicated the individuals in view as targets of interest. The broadcasted video linked to the nearest compatible receiver.

Regardless if the fortress deemed salvageable an assortment of military robots and personnel were being transported to the area for the certainty of retrieving the Egg Emperor Mark II. They would be on ground soon, the Commander leading the operation. His communicator received the video request, his other arm accepted the transmission.

"—how the doctor doesn't trust us with the knowledge of chaos control, yet allows us to know how to achieve invincible status."

"We do?"

"Are you talking about those blasted rings?"

Mentions of rings seized his attention. "Sonic, this is your expertise."

They sat in the cargo hold amongst lined seating filled with governmental force. The hedgehog settled in a groggy position against the wall, not bothering to respond.

"Sonic."

A rushed jumble of sound radiated through his muzzle containing the phrases 'sorry', 'forgot', and 'getting use to'.

* * *

The aggressor dropped incapacitated, fried circuits a buzz. And there stood Sonic without a scratch acting amiss of the aftermath. During everyone's recovery he had taken upon himself to intrigue at his metal double, sightseeing the exposed parts.

He squatted to the wreck and drawn-out a whistle.

"Now, where were we?" the Commander said.

_Fu_**—**

Eggman's train of logic broke and he swung his foot back, a hole penetrating the floor stealing its place. No doubt Towers captivated the masses with his sudden act. The doctor's heart rate spiked, retreating when the gunman strolled ahead.

He directed men from the line to apprehend him, neglecting his red and yellow toy ball and block.

"Without Metal Sonic to stop our departure there's no need to stay. Go get the emerald."

The hedgehog's limbs nested in its inner mechanisms.

"If I—"

At once he dashed to the Egg**-**mobile tending the duty asked. How convenient too since the devastated automaton abused this opportunity. Metal Sonic reactivated his internal systems and launched himself at the Commander, knocking him to the ground in a choke position.

The aperture in his chassis increased in illumination.

"Do not open fire or I will end this man."

* * *

The Egg-pod wedged into the ground when completing the teleportation, tilted at an angle. Orbot and Cubot tumbled outward.

Sounds of machinery drowned their complaints, many construction workers behind them worked on retrieving the peculiar wreckage below. The item in question emerged at the apex of the crane, a dripping barrel bearing the Eggman insignia. Interest shifted towards the newer bodies.

Air became stiff.

The stationed R7s resembling Hunter Mechs, albeit pertaining a stouter build and blatant interest in green armament, did not hesitate in starting the engagement. Beetles and armed employees followed their lead.

Hovering away from the crash site the driver made haste into the night sky, bullets and Beetles trailing. The robo-pair ran into the recent created ditch to evade the hailstorm of metal.

A thud resonated in the hole and Cubot jumped at the opportunity to hot potato it. Time lagged midst the object ricocheting on their cover's boundary. The robots felt compelled to watch it roll to the centre.

Eggman fled adjacent to the river streaming away from the grand entrance, performing acrobatic manoeuvers. Those pesky bugs firing on the craft increased pace. Another amber pulse singeing the side metal reminded him the robots needed to get lucky once.

The waterfall ahead posed an opportunity, this time planning to go over it compared to earlier today. He killed power to his vehicle at arrival and rerouted it into his patented chaos control. His pursuers were not discouraged to carry on the descent.

His activation switch flip-flopped in haste. "What? No. Don't fail on me now."

It denied ignition, the needle hanging in the green. He gobbled a gulp of air before plunging into the water. The Beetles avoided the backlash, and unleashed their ammunition on possible Eggman locations.

Numerous discharges later they retracted, concluding the mission a success. If they had lingered a bright light would have been noticed, submerged. Flashing once, it reappeared anew above the water plopping its carrier, whom coughed the liquid throughout.

He scooped the incoming water in the craft over the rim.

"Stupid ring concept."

His personal space soaked the excess liquid, fenced in by the sea. The vehicle sailed in no straightforward direction, his viewing range limited to pitch-black horizons.

He reached for goggles, patting around his bald head. A tint of moonlight shines in his eye, it came from the item in question drifting on the other side of the island.

"Fad chance they can get the one object powerful enough to make the idea feasible"—he sighed—"my data's robbed, my machinery, and Metal Sonic, sliced by that. That..."

He could not express his outrage in words and instead demonstrated it by slamming the craft.

The boat tilted left, he gripped the elevated side with the wrong hand to compensate. Subsiding to a wobble the same arm committed itself in stabilization. He shook his right side, no stimuli responded.

Further investigation announced the cause, a gaping hole blatant through his arm. Nerves, blood vessels, and slices of cartilage exposed. With the adrenaline levels at before he failed to notice its inception. Hitting the injured limb tipped it past the breaking point.

Nothing worked in an electrical standpoint, panels stayed lifeless. Shoddy experiments with the emerald did not fix the problem, but its original function rebooted online. It will be hours until he could reuse it since surging the system with chaos control did its toll.

Midway through the jerry-rigged restoration the floodgates opened afresh, and his physique could not handle any more of the fluid being lost. Eggman began to slip into darkness slouched on the command chair. Quick like a blown light the man collapsed, the odds of him waking again in a non-drowned state ranked slim to none.

Faint light beamed on his face for a split second. The action repeated again.

Its origin soon became stable, revealing itself to be the yellow emerald growing brighter than the sun.

* * *

_He always hated Dr. Robotnik's pathetic attempts at world domination, but he still needed his expertise._

* * *

_Author's Note: Anything surrounded by _"[" "]"_ is significant in solving the overarching mystery in some way. They act as hints for those readers who have short attention spans._

_The mystery is in the Summary. Who is 'Me'? Who is 'the man piloting the mechanized weapon'? How did he obtain 'an endless supply of the above'?_

_Of course, there will be hints not surrounded by _"[" "]". _It's because the ones surrounded by it may be harder to figure out._

_Want another incentive to continue? This entire chapter and the proceeding chapters to follow will never contain the word 'was'._


	2. 2: Access the Workshop

[_Explain rib_]

* * *

[– – –]

**→→→•2•←←←**

Access the Workshop

His gloved hand streaks red ink across the file name Dr. Namgge. The stationary is dropped top page one-hundred and eighty-one of the printed lists. He rests his legs on the desk and arms behind the head before releasing a groan. Outside the workshop the sky cascaded to darker shades of the gloomy sky, making the sandy coastline and periodic waves jostling it to become uniform in colour.

The bottom corner of the monitor displayed heaps of data taking hold the rest of the screen in the form of ones and zeros, causing the time display to be hidden when it struck 11:10. The fox reiterated yet another piece of knowledge captured in his connected Miles Electric.

"Eggman's favourite food is scrambled eggs"—a delay—"of course."

These files reeked uselessness. Tonnes more files needed to be read by hand. He experienced a similar situation before with Eggman's data stolen, and made an algorithm to do the work for him. The next morning his hard drive became wiped, and a Graphics Interchange Format of the fat man laughing appeared plastered on every single device display.

He refused to allow the mistake twice.

Manipulating his twin tails he jolts a command to open the next file. Orbot's voice echoes inside the garage walls spouting another report on expenses, this time a strontium shortfall.

Tails' right ear diverts to the ceiling, the other falls to the metal desk, his head turned to the side. He reaches into the drawer, hauls forth another journal and lets a slap emit upon its drop. Ink flow becomes restored, tuning in the words said.

The robot voice became distorted, slurring the word 'kilogram', and finished with static. The fox did not bother to adjust his head, and added the corrupted file to the growing pile. He readied his tails to play the next audio recording.

Without his input the static ceased and Orbot continued, this time he listed the benefits if the boss retired from world conquest.

File. Understand. Cursive. Keep.

This continued until Tails succumbed to the dark influence of sleep deprivation. His body slumped atop the table, the arm of his stuck in mid-stroke of writing, while the combat proficiency profile of A. Rose occupied the computer monitor. The Miles Electric took space beside the journal.

_Whoosh._

A new set of gloved hands gained control of the keyboard. The being paused to read the profile, then exited the program. Their words per minute reached the double digits in securing an outsourced connection. A prominent letter 'G' arose on screen with the subheading 'Satellite Station' below. Minutes later the connection severed, and A. Rose's kinky image returned.

Other than the occasional rise and fall of chest fur the kid did not stir. The intruder's task ticked completed, but they could not stop themselves marveling at the technology on the workshop's shelves. Gloved hands grasped at any device at an attempt to understand their functions.

_Whoosh. _Tails' ear twitched at the noise.

The web camera implanted in the monitor cover booted and swivelled its bifocals to the recent fled intruder, then to the sleeping kid. A. Rose minimized again, with it emerged a pixelated image of Eggman on the computer desktop, icon-sized.

Alongside the data Tails stole a Trojan-Horse computer virus.

* * *

The fox's face stuck to a moist surface.

Daylight seeped into the workshop highlighting various contraptions. No doubt he would be still sleeping if he had not overheard suppressed voices. He whirled his face upright, knocking him over the chair. The provocative display on screen loaded from standby.

"No, we haven't found any massive robots yet. The type Sonic, battled yesterday is long gone, as with the doctor. Guardian Unit of Nations will repurpose this base into a new Chemical Plant Zone for the denizens."

The closest official to the Commander she could request an interview with, and even she did not get the whole body.

The banana-yellow cat continued. "Quick comment, how'd you get employed to the organisation. Few years back you supported a theory of the blue blur being a machine. Care to tell our viewers how a once biochemist turned homeless, now holds the title head scientist?"

A generic Japanese man outfitted in a white lab coat and circular spectacles erected visible on the variant Beetle. The monitor slapped in front of the robot, G.U.N. Hunter arms bolted adjunct to the sides. His pace in jouncing the Beetle diminished.

He directed a hand at her, failing to commit the action partway. His monitor flickered into General Towers.

"NARASU, THE ENGINEErs need help supporting the underground labrinyTH, ITS ABOUT TO GIVE WAY."

The static screen exited, leaving the unimportant Japanese man to reappear.

"RIGHT AWay, sir. I'm needed someplace else, sorry Ms. Honey." He pats on the cat's ponytails, bobbling his previous trend to the complex.

G.U.N. secured the area last night. A helicopter surveyed the perimeter, and dump trucks were accepting destroyed Egg-pawn loads transported by Hunters. The man-made lake produced in the aftermath of Sonic's battle with Eggman exhibited quarantine status through police tape, labelled a sinkhole.

The red skirt dressed reporter ran after the floating television, microphone in arsenal, and pig-cameraman jogging behind.

"Wait. I sTILL HAVE FIVE MINUTES—"

The remote disintegrated in his hands.

Living on a floating island yields several advantages, at present though the disadvantages outweighed the latter. The parts were swept underneath the couch. As far as Knuckles' concern the television's power ceased.

He turned to the doorway of Tails' exterior workshop, the fox's yawning face and held Miles Electric blocking the entrance. Knuckles spoke first, lunging at him.

"Did-you-discover-anything-new-yet?"

Knuckles shoved Tails into the kitchen, the farthest area to the living room. Tails' response hit rejection when dumped on a chair near the table.

"You-look-awful—I'll make a smoothie. Here, munch on these." A bowl of grapes slid beyond the tabletop to Tails. Knuckles threw a variety of fruits in a blender, chopping the finer ingredients with his namesakes.

Tails muffled a response. "If this is about the deal with G.U.N.." He continued munching on the grapes.

The Echidna forceful jabs on the fruit grew in haste, his face hidden. Minutes later they were drinking smoothies, bendy straws included.

"Where'd he go?" Knuckles said, in a bid to rid his mind of _that_ contract.

Tails hummed the answer. "Said he wanted to go back. Thought he saw something." He placed his Miles Electric on the table.

On contact it buzzed an alert causing smoothie spillage in the slurping position. The powerful vibrations tossed away the bowl of grapes over the table, the device itself going on its pursuit. Knuckles clasped the fruit while Tails plunged for the tablet, their drinks spilled.

"An emerald detection?" He smeared a glove crosswise the smoothie-soaked screen.

One green dot represented the stone, the user in the centre. From the predicted line it pointed to their residence, travelling at Mach speed.

Tails rushed to the front door, Knuckles tagging along.

A wave of sand covered them when departing outside. The trespasser flipped the emerald in hand, rubbing the bridge of his nose to the pair. Rapid shaking released the sand embedded in their fur, discovering their intruder.

Tails hovered above the porch. "You found it at the old labyrinth?" he said.

Sonic's eyes widened. "No, I ran back for this."

He yanked a couple of dust-covered sneakers resembling his own, tossing it at Tails. They were identical to the one he wore except the maker logo, sporting the Eggman design ingrained in the soles.

Sonic coined the term 'Slow-Down Boots'. Caught in his home unguarded these shoes limited his speed to walking pace, and he progressed through a multi-level labyrinth to permit the shoes' removal. No one knew Eggman's reasoning in not eliminating the blue pest, but the hedgehog always used this anecdote as proof of the doctor's non-immoral nature, much to the disapproval of his friends.

"Where'd you get the emerald then?" Knuckles said, walking past the porch.

Sonic mumbled when handing the piece to Knuckles, having glanced behind him. A shallow path from his running infused in the sand parallel to the tide barrier. Halfway completing a facepalm he grabbed their arms.

"I'll show you."

He dragged them to his speed along the trail. The yellow stone and footwear abandoned to the sand.

* * *

The being leaves the room to discard the evidence.

_Whoosh._

He blinked, and then again. Although the tinted glasses covering the eyes did not give any indication.

His head deviates to avoid the blank ceiling, scrutinising the door of the med bay. A med bay housing one occupant confined to a metal table.

A medical room better described the location.

The legs were free to traverse although a handcuff clamped his left wrist. A large lever connected to the side of the table, and after a few attempts he landed a hit with his heel. The single cuff clicked.

Padding his person revealed tucked gadgets confiscated.

Ransacking the various cupboards lining the walls gave view of nothing save medical devices, taking a serrated scalpel for precaution. He did note the strongest secured housing, an computerised mini-safe, contained numerous HDACi stamped containers. One of the syringes lying around contained a minuscule amount of the pink substance at the tip.

The exit door, the lone non-hacked electronic in the room, became unlocked by him.

He twists the handle.

_Whoosh. _The door becomes opened.

[…]

_Whoosh. _The door becomes closed.

[…]

He blinked, and then again. Although the tinted glasses covering the eyes could not give any indication.

"Awake now?"

Sonic poised beside the reflective table.

Silence. He jerked his strength on the bulged lever, but bounded legs denied him his freedom.

"There's cameras in this room you know." A gloved index finger pointed to a dome capsule with lenses at the ceiling.

"You were injured when I found you beside the tide."

"What happened to my arm?"

"Tails patched it for you. You're welcome."

"I can't move it."

Sonic gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah... human anatomy isn't one of his strong suits. At least he didn't give it the axe."

To the hedgehog's surprise the man gave a suppressed laugh. "I don't suppose you're going to let me go? You do own me from before."

Sonic popped a word.

"Nope."

Eggman conveyed beyond the door into, the kitchen? An acute curve and downward ramp led them to the workshop. The owner hovered near the top window sill maintaining a potted plant with an overflow of water.

Sunlight concentrating on his orange fur caused his pelt to shimmer. He fell to the swivel chair beneath ushering Sonic to maneuver the table beside his computer.

While Tails placed a helmet over Eggman's head Sonic announced his need for a mid-day chili-dog snack at the metropolis.

_Whoosh._

Tails preoccupied wielding cables linked to the helmet into the Miles Electric, which in turn connected to the monitor rear. The doctor's head rested at arm's length where Tails sat. He handed Knuckles a sheet of paper.

Knuckles settled next to the patient and glimpsed at the set of questions given to him.

"How were you able to integrate chaos control to the Egg-Mobile?"

Tails answered, "His gambit failed at supercharging an emerald."

"Did you shoot yourself in the arm?

Miles answered, "Metal Sonic malfunctioned and shot him."

"Why sunbathe at the beach?"

Prower answered, "He doesn't remember... "

A growl escaped from the patient. "Stop this invasion of privacy."

The fox disregarded the rotund and integrated the emerald Sonic found to the Miles Electric. His brow furrowed, the brain signal distorted on the monitor despite the emerald's strength. The more he attacked the keyboard, the more erratic the sinusoidal wave pattern developed.

Knuckles added another question. "What're you hiding?" His large fist intimidated the doctor.

At attempting to undo the restraints the man's free arm limped past the table side.

"The entire Echidna Race."

This earned Eggman a one-on-one stare showdown, his repaired arm brushing the side of the echidna's leg. It would be awhile before a being capitulated had it been not for the extreme voltage coursing through the helmet.

An involuntary outburst of agony shocked Tails from his intense focus on the haphazard sine function he battled to control.

Tails twisted to Knuckles. "Shut the power."

He appeared at the location when the command came. "Which one do I press?"

Tails did a full one-eighty degrees on the swivel chair and banged it against the computer desk. Its force travelled through the frame and ascended to the window sill. The plant teetered wide, sloshing the liquid contents over the pot.

Visible current appearing outside the helmet's enclosure reacted to the spilled water, arching in random directions.

Tails, who headed for Knuckles, failed to complete his walk cycle. A stray current-bolt had dived at him.

Knuckles struck the fuse box with his fists, multiple times. He watched friend and foe jolt airborne, the electricity aiding in their movements. The residual power dissipated a split-second later, and Tails flopped head first to the ground.

Knuckles ran to aid but a blue streak intercepted him.

"Don't touch. Let the electricity flow out of him and into the ground."

The echidna surrendered the area to Sonic. Behind the brothers Knuckles saw visible vapour radiating from the unconscious Eggman. The hedgehog sat on his knees verbalising encouragement to awaken the fox.

A steady rhythm of bangs originated from the first floor.

The red one began to make a comment to the group, but decided to check the commotion himself. Opening the front entrance revealed General Towers, arms behind back. Along with him: Hunters, Beetles, R7s, and footman enveloped the beachfront.

And standing next to him concealed a refurbished Metal Sonic.

"Get me Miles Prower."

* * *

Although the Beetle hovering before the generic Japanese man stated the Mustache's death no wreckage or body graced the scuba team.

"Why didn't you check back on his last known position when high amounts of chaos energy were detected?"

The robot's optical lens displayed a response in holographic text projected outward.

"Objective to retrieve the Mustache failed. Increased chaos energy detection irrelevant; completing next objective, illuminating the excavation site."

"He could have warped anywhere by now"**–**Narasu paused, then tapped his foot**–** "and firing into the ocean as an attempt to retrieve the Mustache?"

The bot circled behind him, and increased the font size.

"ATTEMPTED ALTERNATE OBJECTIVE."

With a suppressed sigh the unimportant Japanese man waved his hand to the general direction of the exit. He settled in his seat once the bot disappeared and turned it towards his workstation, rolling to the location.

As lead scientist of the powerful organization Dr. Kai Narasu had a feeling of pride being the best in the Mechatronics field. Artificial intelligence, however, not even he could replicate it to true sentient behaviour. Building a robot to process procedures demanded little effort, but ask said robot for an opinion and you might as well be conversing to the reflection their chromed metal advertises.

Blue lighting engulfed the laboratory. On the table cluttered an abundant of alloy parts and circuits, a number of items exhibiting scorch marks. It took a good deal of convincing Towers to save these robots from being converted into scrap metal, their A.I. components were much too valuable to go to waste. The success of his project yesterday helped persuade the decision.

He scribbled a note to rid the decals covering the motherboards. The white gloves the scientist wore prevented any unwanted static from shocking the delicate hardware. These bots avoided vaporisation during the blast.

A startling discovery, since he designed the incendiary grenades.

A wall of text implants itself on his workstation, another Beetle being the emitter. The scientist performs a scowl at the presented words.

"Artificial Ring Synthesisation Report: 'Subjects gained weight when touched.'"

Expect failures when experimenting on new technology. The line below it made him irate.

"Chaos Drives Available for Tests: 0 item(s)."

The CD stockpile being depleted means a loss of cheap power sources for G.U.N. robotics, among other ramifications. He did not expect using _that_ trump card so early on.

Narasu acknowledges the Beetle. "Tell the Grenadier Division the task has been greenlit."

Say goodbye to the Master Emerald.

* * *

_But when given a chance to escape it would be foolish to not jump at the first opportunity._

* * *

_Author's Note: Again, for the readers who have short attention spans. The first phrase surrounded by_ "[" "]" _in each chapter_ _contains an anagram._

_Solving them might cause more questions than answers though. _

_Heh…_

_Also, Dr. Kai Narasu is not a fan character. He is an official character from one of the many spin-off Sonic series._


End file.
